


Round and Round the Billabong

by misura



Category: Proof of Life (2000)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Father-Son Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-07 00:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4241631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three weeks of downtime shacked up with your boyfriend in a nice quiet place near London was one thing - three weeks of downtime shacked up with your boyfriend <i>and your teenage son</i> was a slightly different kettle of fish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Round and Round the Billabong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sharpiesgal (TigerLily)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/gifts).



"It's uh," Terry said, because it was. Three weeks of downtime shacked up with your boyfriend in a nice quiet place near London was one thing - three weeks of downtime shacked up with your boyfriend _and your teenage son_ was a slightly different kettle of fish.

Dino shook his head - he was smiling, Terry noticed: generally not a good sign. Not in domestic situations, anyway; out in the field, Dino's smiles had a way of lighting up the room, almost.

Probably, Terry might gain some new and revealing insight about their relationship if he thought about that for a little bit more.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it, seriously," Dino said. "I mean, he's going to have his own room, right?"

"Well, yeah." Terry didn't think there were a lot of teenagers who'd put up with their parents putting them on the couch or something. "But it's not as if it's sound-proofed or anything."

"You saying I'm going to need to gag you?" Dino smirked.

"Need is such a strong word," Terry said. "We could just have no sex at all, how's that?"

"I'd say 'fuck you', except that that would be entirely inappropriate in the current situation."

"Yeah," Terry said. "So maybe go a bit easy on the language, too?"

 

Henry was much as Terry remembered him. Not much of a talker.

"He called you 'sir'," Dino noted, bottle of beer in hand. "At the dinner table."

"It's uh - he's very polite, you know?" Terry wondered what Henry called Michael. Not 'Dad' he hoped, although really, what right would he have to object if Henry did?

Chances were, Michael'd actually _earned_ the term.

"Just so you know, I'm not settling for anything less than 'Uncle Dino'. No 'sirs' for me, ta very much."

Terry wished he hadn't quit smoking. Again. "Knock yourself out."

"I will," Dino said, sounding like he took this whole thing maybe a little bit more seriously than Terry felt was strictly warranted: sure, it'd be nice if Henry and Dino'd be able to get along, but if not, so what?

Hardly as if they'd be spending a lot of time together after these three weeks. Entirely possible they'd never see each other again, in fact.

 

"You took him to a _game_?" Terry'd woken up to find the house very, very quiet, which was business as usual, and very, very empty, which was not.

Henry's face was a little bit flushed, like maybe he'd been sitting in the sun too long.

"Sorry," Dino said, sounding not particularly apologetic. "I did knock."

Separate bedrooms: not really what Terry'd had in mind when he'd arranged this.

"I thought you were just fooling around or something." More precisely: he'd thought Terry'd come by to discuss their sleeping arrangements, which was not a conversation he'd felt up to at seven in the morning. Besides, Terry wasn't sure what there was to discuss, anyway.

Dino shrugged. "Your mistake."

Terry glared. At Dino, obviously, who should have known better.

"Sir? I'm very sorry to have made you worry, sir," Henry said. His face didn't look quite so flushed anymore, meaning Dino hadn't let him get overexposed to sunlight after all.

"I wasn't _worried_ ," Terry said. "I just didn't know where you were. I'm your father, you know? So I feel that, while you're sleeping under my roof, I need to know where you are. I mean, what if your mother had phoned? She asks to talk to you, I have to admit I haven't the foggiest where to find you. Doesn't exactly put me in line for Most Responsible Parent of the Year, does it?"

"Don't worry, I think you weren't in the running for that one, anyway," Dino said.

Henry coughed.

"Fine, fine, I'm overreacting." Terry did this sort of thing - well, something remotely and not at all like this, for a living. He knew how to talk to people, how to gauge a mood. "I'm just saying, next time, knock a little louder, okay? I don't get to be your dad very often - I want to do a good job, all right? I'm nervous, I guess. Does that make sense?"

"He's babbling," Dino said. "Just ignore him, kid. Want to order some pizza for dinner?"

 

After dinner, Terry'd slunk off to Dino's bedroom and helped himself to a cigarette. Dino didn't smoke himself, but he usually carried a pack around for those who did.

With anyone else, it would have been considerate. With Dino, Terry felt it was more pragmatic. Part of being well-prepared.

A bit like how Dino'd brought a couple of movies that might be enjoyed by your typical (or even not so typical) teenage boy - by which Terry happily _didn't_ mean porn. Some sports stuff, underdog team of losers turn themselves into winners through the virtue of their team spirit - something like that.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Given the level of profanity, Terry assumed Henry was still downstairs, which was good.

"Nothing special. Just having a smoke. Feeling sorry for myself. Brooding. The usual."

"Look, you want him to think we're just friends, that's your problem," Dino said. "I'll play along - no sweat, it's only a couple of weeks. _That_ , I can handle. This - this is something else, though."

"Have you got him calling you 'Uncle Dino' yet?"

"Give it a few more days."

"I don't know him." Terry blew some smoke in the direction of the open window. "Like, at all. And I just, I'm not sure if there's still time to change that. I mean, maybe I missed my chance. Maybe I should accept that and move on. Leave him be. He's got his mother; he's got Michael. That's plenty, right? That's what normal families look like."

Dino reached for the package of cigarettes and shoved it back into his bag. "If that's how you feel, then I guess that's how you feel. What do you want me to say here?"

Terry sighed. "I don't know, something along the lines of 'man up, go and tell him'."

"He's not an idiot, Terry. But yeah. Man up. And get off my bed before I get any ideas."

"Ideas?" Terry located an ash tray. Completely unused, of course. "Anything interesting we can do in under, say, an hour? I mean, the movie's going to be running for at least that long, right?"

 

There was a certain kind of expression on Henry's face at breakfast the next morning - or possibly Terry was getting a little bit paranoid. It was a risk, in their line of work. Over-reading your environment.

"So about your Uncle Dino and me - " he started.

"Are you going to get married soon, sir?"

Dino choked on his tea, which served him right, Terry thought. "Well," he said, "we haven't really talked about that yet. I mean, all the financial ramifications - lots of paperwork."

Henry nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir."

"Plus, he's too chicken to propose," Dino said.


End file.
